Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/925196
January 2018 | Overdrive | 25 carrier, Burruss says. Then if the driver "sits in the line for two hours," the system knows it. "There's a secondary geofence then around the dock. You now have a record of when that driver entered the secondary geofence to unload." Using that data as part of a block- chain smart contract would benefit both the fleet and the driver, who gets paid automatically for the documented detention time in addition to his take on the load. If perhaps that driver is almost out of hours and the facility personnel know it, prioritizing loading or unloading could be possible with the right contract terms and smarter man- agement of in and out times. Burruss acknowledges this is one area where "there will be resistance to sharing information." That notion is evidenced in widespread owner-operator opposition to the ELD mandate, which puts a third-par- ty GPS monitor in virtually every truck. Where agreement can't be reached about the suitability of blockchain use for a particular problem, Burruss says, "maybe you move on to the next discus- sion. That's why it's important when we talk about use cases that we find the ones where there is consensus." As cases show up that actually provide a true benefit to small fleets, look for comfort with information sharing to grow, he says. Better utility for driver credentials, carrier performance history Individual drivers' and carriers' histories in trucking are documented more thor- oughly than ever, and blockchain technol- ogy promises to take the process even further. A blockchain application has emerged in the area of credentialing that, for driv- ers, could compile driver certifications – for use at gates, at roadside and with potential employers. For carriers, a blockchain might include information on carrier authority, insurance status, compliance information, inspection and crash data and anything else necessary for a transaction. That's where the concept of a "block- cert," a private key that would allow an individual or business to control access to such information on a blockchain, could come into play. "The blockchain can provide your drivers with identity documents" to assist them with passing through security checkpoints or when dealing with road- side enforcement, said Natalie Smolenski, speaking in November to BiTA members at their first meeting, as reported by BiTA's online magazine Freightwaves. com. Smolenski is vice president of busi- ness development for Learning Machine, which is developing Blockcerts.org in con- junction with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The website and mobile app provide a way for individuals to take some sem- blance of ownership of that data, as well as a way to share that information with those who need it. Shippers and receivers also might use such blockchain identities to ensure the proper driver and truck has arrived to pick up or deliver its shipment, thereby mitigating against cargo theft. The complete and unaltered driver's records, including awards and recognition, could be made available quickly. Blockcerts is being built to provide all manner of individuals a way to "verify the information" and create a "public key" to the blockchain for other par- ties, Freightwaves reported. For drivers, it could "be used for job applications or to send to anyone else needing access to information in the driver's blockchain. The public key does not allow viewers to change any of the information, so all the data remains secure." STANDARDS: A CHANCE TO SPEAK A SHARED LANGUAGE As software programs and online inter- faces have proliferated in trucking, so have communication problems. Getting the software of an individual transporta- tion management software (TMS) system to integrate with a load board could require complicated development work by the TMS provider, the carrier using the TMS and the load board itself. Blockchain systems could form a back- bone for a lot of what happens in the sup- ply chain, says Chris Burruss, president of the Blockchain in Transport Alliance. He believes standardizing systems now will grease the skids for companies being able to benefit from future technology. "We don't want to have to wait three years for a standard to be developed" be- fore too many applications are developed in private blockchains, Burruss says. For BiTA, a "core focus will simply be deter- mining use cases to take a look at. What can blockchain be a solution for?" While private blockchains may come into play independently along the way, Burruss says, "we don't want the supply chain members all dancing to their own music. That defeats the purpose, the efficiencies to be gained." This could happen in situations such as a load board with permissions assigned only to those who can use it on either side of a freight move, or a shipper building a blockchain to tender loads to a specific carrier. "What we don't want is hubs of private blockchains that can't communicate with each other," Burruss says. "We've got trucking companies, but we also really need the TMS providers, telemat- ics providers, those outside of trucking companies and shippers" all involved in the effort to "try to keep some standard- ization to allow everyone" to benefit. Jerry Wallace, chief technology officer for factoring company Apex Capital, a BiTA member, agrees. "In the past, you've had to buy software systems to interface with companies on their terms," he says. "This is more like a shared communication platform." Broadcasting some of your data to a blockchain ideally would occur with whatever software platform you're using to manage the business, and it won't matter what the party on the other end of the line is using. "You can communicate where everyone else is communicating," Wallace says.